Railroad signaling device.



No. 861,759. PATENTBD JULY 30, 1907,

E. G. MoGATH.

RAILROAD SIGNALING DEVIGB. I APPLICATION FILED APR. 11 1907.

l g E Witueooeo g Z'Zmr C E! E /g Z ELMER G. MoGATH, OF LANCASTER, OHIO.

RAILROAD SIGNALING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1907.

Application filed April 11, 1907. Serial No. 367,625.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER G. MCGATH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lancaster, in the county of Fairlield and State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad SignalingDevices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a railroad signaling device and has for itsobject, the provision of a device of this character constructed in suchmanner as to sound a signal within the cab of a locomotive or at someother point upon a train if the engineer passes a signal that is set atthe danger point.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in thedetailed description which now follows.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portionof a railway, illustrating my invention applied thereto, Fig. 2 is asectional view through one side of the cab of a locomotive showing thesignal arranged therein, Fig. 3 is an underside perspective View of therunning-board of a locomotive, showing the circuit closing devices, and,Fig. 4 is a detail view of a semaphore arm hereinafter described.

Like numerals designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of thedrawing.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 5 designates a switch tower,arranged adjacent to which is the usual semaphore arm 6. This semaphorearm is adapted to be actuated by a handle 7 located within the switchtower, said handle being connected to said semaphore arm by a connection8. The lever 7 has connected to its outer end a wire 9 which passes overa pulley 10 and is connected to a pipe 11. The handle 7 is pivoted upona standard 12. The pipe 11 is supported upon blocks 13 and is mounted toslide there-over. At its opposite end this pipe is connected to a wire14 which passes around a pulley 15. The end of the wire 14 is connectedat 16 (see Fig. 3) to an L-shaped semaphore arm 17, said arm beingpivoted at 18 to a post 19. It will therefore be seen that the wires 9and 14 and the pipe 16 form a connection between the handle 7 and thesemaphore arm 17. When the semaphore arm 17 is in the dotted lineposition illustrated in Fig. 4, the main semaphore arm 6 is at safety.When the main semaphore arm 6 is at danger, the semaphore arm 17 is atthe full line position illustrated in Fig. 4, at which time thedownturned end 20 of the semaphore arm 17 lies in such position that alever 21 (see Figs. 2 and 3) which is pivoted at 22 to the underside ofthe running-board 23 of a locomotive A, will strike said portion 20 tothrow the lever rearwardly if the locomotive be moving toward the rightin Fig. 1, or forwardly if the locomotive be moving in the oppositedirection. Z-shaped con- I tact plates 24, are secured to the undersideof the running-board and are insulated therefrom by insulating blocks25. A contact plate 26 is secured to the lever 21 and is adapted to passunder the downwardly extending portions 24 of the contact plates 24.

-It is to be understood that these downwardly extending portions areresilient and that the lever 21 binds frictionally between them and theunderside of the running-board by virtue of which construction the lever21 is held in the position to which it is thrown. This frictionalbinding of the lever 21 in the contact arms, causes said lever to cometo a gradual stop. In other words, the lever is cushioned as it isthrown from its central position to its limit of movement in onedirection or the other.

An electric alarm such as a bell 27 is located in the cab 28 of thelocomotive, as is also a source of E. M. F. such as a battery 29. Onepole of this battery is connected by a conductor 30 with one of thepoles of the bell. The opposite pole of the bell is connected by aconductor 31 with the contact plate 26. A conductor 32 connects theopposite pole of the battery with one of the contact plates 24. A secondconductor 33 leads from the conductor 30 to a second signal 35 which maybe located at any desired point upon the train as in the car B. Thecontact plate 26 is connected with the opposite pole of the signal bell35 by a conductor 36. A conductor 37 connects the conductor 32 and theother contact plate 24. A rod 38 extends from the lever 21 and isconnected to a lever 39 which is pivoted at 40 and is located within thecab 28, this lever rendering it possible for the engineer to throw thelever 21 to its central position, or until it stands at right angles tothe track and in position to strike the downwardly extending portion 20of the semaphore arm 17. When the main semaphore arm 6 is at cantion,the semaphore arm 17 occupies a position midway between the full lineposition and the dotted line position of Fig. 4.

The operation of the device is as follows: When the operatormoves thehandle 7 to set the arm 6 at danger, the same movement sets the arm 17at danger, this arm 17 being located some distance from the arm 6. I prefer to employ a tube 11 as the major part of the connection betweenthese two arms, for it is not subject to as great expansion andcontraction as a solid rod, nor does it sag and stretch as does a wire.However, it is to be understood that any form of connection between thearm 17 and the handle 7 may be employed. When in the forward movement ofthe locomotive the lever 21 strikes the portion 20 of the arm 17, thislever is thrown over until the plate 26 is brought into contact with theportion 24 of the rearmost contact plate 24. The circuit is thencompleted as follows: From one pole of the battery 29 through theconductor 30, signal 27, conductor 31, contact plate 26, the rearmostcontact plate 24 and conductors 37 and 32 back to the positive pole ofthe battery. At the same time the circuit is completed to the signal 35from the positive side of the battery through the conductors 32 and 37;contact plate 26, conductor 36 and from the signal 35 by conductor 33,back to the negative pole of the battery. When the engine is runningbackwards, the lever 21 will of course be thrown over into engagementwith the front contact plate 24. At this time the circuit will becompleted from the positive side of the battery through the conductor 32to the front contact plate 24, thence through contact plate 26 andconductor 31 to the bell 27. The opposite pole of the bell is connectedto the negative side of the battery by the conductor 30 as hereinbeforeset forth. At this time the circuit to the signal 35 is completed fromthe positive side of the battery to the conductor 32, foremost contactplate 24, contact plate 26, conductor 36 and from the bell 35 by theconductor 33 to the negative side of the battery. By having the lever 21and the contact arms 24 mounted upon the underside of the running-board,these contact points are protected from the Weather and will not becomeclogged by sleet or snow. After the lever 21 has been thrown to itslimit of movement in either direction, the contact plates 24 willfrictionally engage and hold it in position until the engineerpositively disengages it and moves it to its central position byoperating the lever 39. Not only will the lever 21 strike the arm 20 ofthe semaphore 17 when this arm is set at danger, but the lever 21 willstrike the upper left-hand portion of said semaphore when said semaphoreis set at caution. The sounding of the signals notifies both theconductor and the engineer that the train has passed a signal set atdanger. It will therefore be impossible'for the engineer to pass adanger signal without being apprised of the fact no matter how purviewsuch changes as may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim, is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with the mainsemaphore arm, of an auxiliary semaphore arm, connections between themain and auxiliary semaphore arms to cause the auxiliary semaphore armto move in unison with the main semaphore arm, a lever pivoted to theunderside of the running-board of a l0comotive, a contact plate alsocarried by the underside of the running-board of a locomotive, saidlever being adapted to strike against the auxiliary semaphore arm and tobe thereby thrown into contact with the contact plate, and an electricsignal located in the locomotive cab, and connections between said leverand said contact plate to said signal whereby the movement of the leveris adapted to complete an electric circuit to said signal, and manuallyoperable means controllable from the cab for throwing said lever out ofengagement with said contact plate.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a mainsemaphore arm, of an auxiliary semaphore arm, connections between thetwo to cause them to move in unison, a lever pivoted to the underside ofthe running-board of a locomotive, a contact plate carried by saidlever, contact plates arranged at each of the limits of movement of saidlever, an electric signal, connections between said contact. plates andsaid signal and between said lever and said signal whereby the movementof the lever in either direction completes an electric circuit to saidsignal, and means controllable from the cab of the locomotive for movingsaid lever.

3. In a device of the character described, the c0mbination with a mainsemaphore arm, of an auxiliary semaphore arm, connections between themain and the auxiliary semaphore arms to cause the auxiliary semaphorearm to move in unison with the main semaphore arm, a horizontallyswinging lever carried by a locomotive, a contact plate arranged in thepath of movement of said lever, said lever being adapted to strikeagainst the auxiliary semaphore arm and to thereby be forced intocontact with the contact plate, an electric signal located in alocomotive cab, and connections between said lever and said contactplate to said signal whereby the movement of the lever is adapted tocomplete an electric circuit to said signal, the shape of the auxiliarysemaphore arm being such that it lies in the path of movement of thehorizontally swinging lever when the main semaphore arm is either atcaution or at danger.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ELMER G. MCGA'IH.

Witnesses:

W. M. Worth, .1. CARL I'ownns.

